some may know me from Dhamma Wheel. For everyone else: I am 21 years old (turning 22 soon), and I'm from Germany. I have been interested in buddhism ever since I visited a buddhist monastery (Kamalashila Institut, Germany) to attend a buddhist wedding cermony for two of my parents' friends. Back then, I was only eight years old but somehow this place had a lasting impact on me, and when I turned 14, I bought my first book about meditation (Meditation for Dummies ). I don't belong to any specific tradition but my practice has mainly been influenced by two teachers of two different traditions: Mingyur Rinpoche and Ajahn Brahm.

Welcome, Mog. I just came here from Dhamma Wheel myself a few days ago. Of course there are so many people on these forums that I make more progress helping people on New Buddhist.

Last edited by Stephen on Mon Apr 19, 2010 1:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

The "self", which is a construct of the mind, is non-self. It is not us, and we are not it. This self blinds us to reality; it is our Mara, our Satan, our Hades. Cast it out and behold the path to freedom.(Visit http://www.BodhiBox.com for a free Buddhist e-mail account, while you're still attached to the 'net...)

ball-of-string wrote:Hehe... I will out myself as being at DhammaWheel too. We should order pizza, and have a trans-forum sleep over!

I'm on three forums right now, myself. The first forum, and the one I'm still the most active on, is NewBuddhist.com. Naturally I went there because I haven't been a Buddhist for long.

I've found it an interesting experience, to say the least, being on these forums that are specifically Theravada or Mahayana. It seems these "specific" forums tend to seem more elitist... how should I put this... more opinionated that their school is better than the other. On NB people still argue (a lot), but a lot of the time you can't even tell which school an individual associates with.

It's just strange, like being in a different world. Maybe that's why I sense each school as having its own "self".

It's my humble opinion that none of the Buddhist schools are "greater" or "lesser". They all teach of suffering and its cessation, and are all worthy of respect. It is the individual that actually acts out of compassion to alleviate the suffering of other beings that is the great one, and they may be of any school. That's one of the reasons I made sure to make my Buddhist e-mail service available to Buddhists of all traditions; even of no school at all (like me).

We're all in this together, so let's all help each other and not be selfish. 'Nuff said.

The "self", which is a construct of the mind, is non-self. It is not us, and we are not it. This self blinds us to reality; it is our Mara, our Satan, our Hades. Cast it out and behold the path to freedom.(Visit http://www.BodhiBox.com for a free Buddhist e-mail account, while you're still attached to the 'net...)